Rob Parker: “This is not disrespect to him [Ice Cube] but Caitlin Clark is too big for the Big3 and not only that, she’s too big for the WNBA. I am convinced that Caitlin Clark should play for an NBA team, NOT a WNBA team. This ain’t no stunt like Eddie Gaedel with the White Sox. Remember they had the small person who they tried to get him to walk every at bat? This is not a sideshow. This is not the bearded lady at the circus.
The NBA right now is so soft as far as physical play. They allow almost anyone to just take three-point shots, and I really believe that Caitlin Clark could put up threes in this man’s NBA. This is not 2004, this is not the 90’s, this is an NBA where the three-ball is open, and it’s open to be had. We just saw Steph Curry go up against a female [Sabrina Ionescu] in the three-point shooting contest. I’m telling you she could play, she could make shots in the NBA. If they get her on some screens, they can open her up for some shots, some open looks... Nancy Lieberman already played in a men’s league and that wasn’t taking threes. In this NBA where you’re not physical, where you can put up threes, I’m telling you, I think she could make threes in the NBA. I’m not saying she’s gonna be a star. We’re not asking her to be the best player in the league we’re asking her to make some threes.
With the way they play the game now from the perimeter – she's putting up shots from the logo! Why can’t she do that in the NBA? We just saw an All-Star Game where they didn’t even put their hands up defensively. There are a lot of open shots that you see in the NBA every night. She’s not going to be the star of the team but could she play and put up some shots? YES. She too good for the WNBA and that would be a waste of talent. She’s the greatest shooter we’ve ever seen from the perimeter for the women’s game; if you’re going to give someone an opportunity [a women playing in the NBA for the first time], it should be her. Can we have her go to training camp? Can we have her fail? Can some NBA team give her an opportunity? What is so wrong with trying and giving her an opportunity??"
Chris Broussard: “This is embarrassing for you, you’re crazy. You don’t know what you’re talking about. She ain’t good enough, it’s as simple as that. Why isn’t Jimmer Fredette in the NBA? He’s better than Caitlin Clark. It’s not about skills, it’s about athleticism, it’s about size, it’s about strength. You are so disrespecting the quality of play in the NBA. The NBA is still somewhat physical. Speed, quickness – Caitlin Clark is not quick for an NBA player. Caitlin Clark is 6’0”, 154 pounds, and she is awesome, but she shouldn’t even be compared to NBA players. I hate to even say it, but she’s not good enough to play in the NBA.
If the Big3 got guys from minor leagues playing overseas who are now 25-26 years old, she couldn’t play with them. She could play with the old guys that aren’t in shape, and they just playing around, but young guys that play ball for a living -- professionals -- NO. She’s not good enough, and I hate to even say it that way because why are we even talking about her being in the NBA?
Jimmer Fredette was a phenomenal college basketball player against men at the highest level. He’s playing against men who are biologically stronger, bigger, and faster, and he was not athletic enough to consistently get his shot off in the NBA. What makes you think she would be?? No team is going to focus their whole offense on getting Caitlin Clark open threes. She wouldn’t get off the bench. There’s physical play. There’s boxing out. Defense gets physical. You’ve had some bad takes in your day but this takes the cake by a mile, this is ridiculous! Who is she guarding??”
Watch Rob Parker and Chris Broussard of Fox Sports Radio’s The Odd Couple discuss the news of ‘Big3’ founder Ice Cube offering Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark $5 million to play in the Big3, with Rob taking the news a step further and saying that Clark should ditch her dream of playing in the WNBA and try to become the first woman’s player in the NBA.
Parker says Clark, who leads women’s college basketball in points and three-pointers by a wide margin, could have success in a ‘soft’ modern NBA that is experiencing its highest scoring season in league history, with three-point shooting the most frequent it’s ever been as well.
Parker believes the 6’0” Clark, who averages 31.8 points and 8.8 assists, while connecting on 5.2 three-pointers per game for no. 2 ranked Iowa, would be ‘too big’ for women’s professional basketball, and would ‘waste’ her talent in the WNBA. Parker thinks Clark could be a three-point specialist in an NBA that has effectively removed defense from its game, and says that Clark could be utilized the same way the Warriors utilize Steph Curry off the ball in certain possessions, where Curry can run around multiple screens to free himself from defenders and knock down three’s from almost anywhere on the court.
Parker mentioned that during NBA All-Star Weekend, Curry narrowly beat New York Liberty superstar Sabrina Ionescu 29-26 in a three-point shootout, and also brought up the fact that women's basketball legend Nancy Lieberman was the first woman to ever play in a men's professional league back in 1986 for the Springfield Fame of the United States Basketball League.
Check out the animated debate above as Broussard vehemently disagrees with Parker, saying NBA basketball is a different animal in terms of the physicality and athleticism compared to women’s college basketball, and says that if even legendary NCAA sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette can’t cut it in the NBA, then how are we going to expect Clark to?
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